– WKA Gears Up For US National Playoffs

Photo courtesy of Pride FC
The United States division of the World Kickboxing Association (WKA USA) will host its yearly, amateur national championship tournament series as well as a number of professional Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts bouts at the Dulles Sports Plex in Dulles, Virginia from Friday, July 29th through Sunday, July 31st. The winners in each weight class of tournaments contested under four different rules will be declared the WKA US Champion while winners in the kickboxing events will also be appointed to the 2005 WKA amateur national team that will represent America in the WKA world championship tournament event in November.

The three-day affair will kick off Friday with a single-elimination, Mixed Martial Arts rules tournament that will divide fighters into nine different weight classes.

On Saturday, the eventâ€™s kickboxing tournament will be contested under the WKAâ€™s three traditional sets of rules – Full Contact (above the waist kicks), Kickboxing (low kick), and modified Muay Thai. Competitors can register for either the â€œopenâ€ or â€œnoviceâ€ division, depending on the competitive experience of each athlete. Both novice as well as open tournament fighters will be separated into 11 different weight classes and will engage in bouts consisting of three, two-minute rounds. The victor of each weight class in the open division will be crowned the United States champion in that class and be named to the United States national squad.

The final day of competition will consist of the Submission Grappling tournament that is open to all experience levels. Brazilian Black Belt Leo Dalla will oversee this affair to which â€œNo Giâ€ rules will apply. All submission grappling tournament competitors will be registered into the new WKA USA ranking system.

The World Kickboxing Association is one of the worldâ€™s oldest and most recognized governing bodies for various forms of kickboxing. In 2000 the organization formed the WKA USA to oversee kickboxing competition in the United States and, in 2004, the WKA USA added mixed martial arts and submission grappling to its portfolio of combat sports that it regulates.